Ethiopia: AU Summit launches internet domain name to spur e-commerce

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) – The African Union (AU) launched its DotAfrica internet domain name on Monday at the 29th AU Summit and immediately flagged off a six-month-long campaign across all African countries to urge firms and individuals to utilize the domain to raise the profile of their businesses.

The AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, Abou Zeid Amani, said during the Summit launch of the domain .Africa, the project took several months to complete, but would henceforth provide African citizens with an international identity on the internet.

Users can now purchase the DotAfrica domain and use it for all their internet purposes.

The AU was assigned the DotAfrica domain after a protracted process. The process kicked off in 2012, with the application for the Generic Top Level Domain (Gtld) made by ZA Central Registry, a South African non-profit company which is responsible for the domain name .ZA.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which oversees and coordinates the registration of domain names for use on the internet.

Commissioner Amani said the registration of the domain .Africa, has been recognized as one of the major Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) initiatives undertaken by the AUC.

The AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat handed the dotAfrica flag to senior officials of the AUC Department of Energy and Infrastructure to launch the six-month-long roadshows.

The team will promote the new domain name when it travels across all the 55 African countries.

“This domain name has significance for its African identity,” Commissioner Amani said during the launching ceremony of the new domain name.

She said the launch of the new domain would help to promote digital commerce in Africa.

AU Commission officials also say the launch also has geopolitical implications to Africans using their own domain name to improve and promote digital commerce and electronic payment systems.
-0- PANA AO/VAO 3July2017